KETTERING — There are people in the Miami Valley who say they are waiting 10 days or more to get their COVID-19 test results back.
One testing site, two people, the same experience.
Jim Robbins of Centerville and Brian Rao of Dayton told the I-Team’s Molly Koweek they both went to Dynamic Diagnostics on Bigger Road in Kettering on Jan. 3.
Robbins said he didn’t hear back for 10 days. He ended up finding a rapid antigen test which came back negative so he went to work.
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Robbins did not get his PCR test results back until he was past the CDC’s recommended isolation time — it was positive.
Meanwhile, Roa still does not know if he has the virus after being exposed.
He said he isn’t sure what to do, unsure if it was safe for him to be around his family or if he had exposed others during the holiday season.
Both men emailed Dynamic Diagnostics voicing their frustration and received different responses.
Someone told Rao “the entire country faced massive chaos on delayed results as laboratories were slammed with overwhelming tests.”
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An email from the same address told Robbins they were operating with half of their scientist after three got COVID.
For comparison, I-Team reached out to other testing locations around the area to compare result times.
Premier Health said it can generally turnaround PCR tests in 1-2 days, Walgreens said the same, CVS said it typically takes them 1-3 days.
I-Team left a voicemail and emailed the district manager of Dynamic Diagnostics to find out why the results were taking so long. They have not responded at this time.
Dr. Joseph Allen, regional medical director for Premier Health, explained why PCR tests are sometimes preferred over antigen tests, which can provide results in a matter of minutes.
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Allen said both tests look for part of the virus. Antigen tests identify what’s on the swab while the PCR will replicate what’s there to give a more magnified sample.
PCR tests are the “gold standard” Allen said, and much more accurate.
But that gold standard doesn’t do any good 10 days out Allen said.
Roa said the uncertainty in his test results has made him very anxious as he constantly checks to see if his results are in yet.
Roa has still not received his results at the time of reporting.
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